Valparaiso council overrides mayor's veto of reimagined Advisory Human Relations Council

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

As Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas predicted, the city council responded to his veto of a revised Advisory Human Relations Council with a 5-2 override vote Monday.
'I think we know how this vote is going to go, so let's call the vote,' Costas said Monday after council member Robert Cotton, D-2nd, motioned for a vote to negate the mayor's veto.
Another vote and further debate of the ordinance were not included on the council agenda released late Thursday, which prompted council member Ellen Kapitan, D-At-large, to rebuke Costas for waiting until after the agenda was created before notifying the council of his veto.
As with the last council meeting on July 28, the ordinance, which was crafted and introduced by Kapitan and at-large member Emilie Hunt, drew the same supportive votes from Cotton, Barbara Domer, D-3rd, and Diana Reed, D-1st.
Peter Anderson, R-5th, and Jack Pupillo, R-4th, once again voted against having the mayor's veto dissolved.
Kapitan asked that Costas repeat for the public the reasoning behind his veto, as communicated in his email Thursday.
'I decided not to sign Ordinance No. 8 as passed at last month's council meeting because, as I've been clear all along this process, I believe that the current make-up and function of the AHRC as it is now is very effective to advise me in my role as the city's executive,' Costas explained.
'I've continued to urge the council to create their own Human Relations Council or a similar committee by selecting their own member to serve on that body rather than absorbing my existing appointed member and adding to that number. As I've said publicly, I don't wish for there to be mayor appointments to this council's created advisory group. I haven't seen the collaboration I'd hope for this, and as a result, I felt that vetoing this [ordinance] was warranted.'
Of the 10 residents who addressed the mayor and council before the override, the divided sides were split evenly with five residents in favor of the council-created combined committee and five voices favoring the mayor retaining his existing advisory group.
'I fully support the mayor's veto of this ordinance,' James Ferguson said when addressing the mayor and council members.
'After last meeting's discussion about this ordinance, I decided to attend the Advisory Human Relations Council meeting on July 22, and I kind of expected some of the city council members to be there. Instead, there were the Advisory Human Relations Council members all there wondering what's going on.'
Alison Quackenbush, a middle school civics teacher who serves as the chair of the existing Advisory Human Relations Council as appointed by Costas, said Tuesday she, like most of the members of the mayor's appointed council, 'are still processing what is happening' and 'are unsure of what comes next.'
Hunt and Kapitan have publicly expressed their displeasure with 'a lack of programming and events' organized by the existing advisory council and insist it is part of that group's 'mission.'
Quackenbush has publicly responded that she and the other members are volunteers assisting as appointments by the mayor and have never been directed to oversee and promote specific events and programming.
In addition to Quackenbush, other appointed voting members of the existing council are Elisabeth Cohon, Debi Sibray, Mark Fesenmyer, Patrick Lyp, Carolyn Rodea, David Muniz, Mike Hendren and Jack Tipold, in addition to non-voting members Katie Shideler, Olivia Krutz and Valparaiso Police Chief Andrew McIntyre.
'Just because I was appointed a member of this group for the mayor doesn't mean I will want to serve on a newly formed council, depending on what the direction and mission is for the group,' Tipold said at the July 22 Advisory Human Relations Committee.
Other members echoed Tipold's sentiment while Costas told those assembled he 'wasn't in a place to provide any advisement or further information' because he wasn't clear on what the council's purpose was for their re-imagined group.
In March, a news release announced the city of Valparaiso's Human Relations Council's 'invitation to the community' to apply for its new Community Cultural Educational grants.
'We are looking to support events or efforts that further the mission of the HRC, which is to increase awareness, appreciation and dialogue among diverse and traditionally underrepresented groups, such as race, religion, national origin, age, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status and individuals with disabilities,' Quackenbush said in the distributed press release.
'This grant is designed to spark ideas and support efforts that advance inclusion and education, whether that's in programming, events or other outreach.'
She said then the $10,000 grant pool was funded by the Valparaiso Mayor's Office and was to be disbursed in the form of matching grants ranging from $500 to $2,000 per project.
The plan is for grants to be awarded twice annually. Applications for the first cycle were due April 30.
Quackenbush said they had three organizations apply for grants: the Valparaiso Creative Council, LGBTQ Outreach of Porter County, and Hilltop Neighborhood House.
However, though each was approved by her council and recommended for funding, ultimately, all three were rejected when presented to the mayor's office.
'We were able to find two out of the three funding for their projects through other funding means,' Quackenbush said.